10th planet… say what?

What 10th planet? Last time I checked, Pluto isn’t even technically a planet. It’s what astronomers call a “Kuiper Belt Object”. It’s not big enough to be ranked as a planet, nor does it orbit on the same plane as the rest of the planets in our solar system.

Even worse, is when you think about the implications of naming celestial bodies after television shows, especially really bad ones like “Xena: Warrior Princess”. If you aren’t sucked into the hype of the show and the hotness of Lucy Lawless or her on screen partner, then you realize that the name alone is an exercise in high quality cheese. One would think that modern day astronomers would be above such things when it comes to the naming planets… let alone Kuiper Belt Objects.